Do The Twist
by tktktk
Summary: Abed invites Jeff and Annie to see a special showing of Pulp Fiction. (Written for the AO3 Sitcomathon, originally posted there.)


_"They're playing a special showing of Pulp Fiction at the AMC downtown tonight. You in?'_

Jeff looked down at his phone, back up to his tv (showing a repeat of Real Housewives), back down to the phone, and then to the glass of scotch in his left hand before replying.

_'What time?'_

_'8. We should get there early though they're going to play the trailers that originally premiered with the film.'_

_'I'll pick you up at 7'_

_'Actually, I'm already in town. Just meet me here.'_

He was about to reply when another text came in-

_'Oh, and could you pick up Annie?'_

Jeff had figured this might be a guys night thing. Abed hadn't really found someone to replace Troy, like someone ever could, and it was just about time for Abed to want to bond with him. Like that dinner they went to a few years ago. Maybe it was a group thing?

_'Sure, is everyone coming?'_

There was no reply for fifteen minutes. Jeff resisted the urge to text Abed again, and got wrapped up in the show again until he heard the beep.

_'No.'_

Okay... Jeff didn't have the energy to decipher Abed's weirdness right now so he just agreed and got up to change.

When Jeff got to Annie's, she was waiting outside. She ran over to the car and jumped inside.

"You're late!"

"It's 7:05. It takes like twenty minutes, we're fine."

"Whatever, but you know Abed's gonna say something about it."

"Abed says something about everything."

Annie rolled her eyes as she buckled up and Jeff started to drive.

"Hey, so is it just you, me, and Abed tonight? I asked if it was gonna be the whole group and he just said 'No.'"

Annie responded nonchalantly, "Ummm... I think Rachel's gonna be there too. That's who he's been with all day. Plus she loves Pulp Fiction."

Jeff nodded as Annie leaned over to turn up the radio. She bounced along to some pop song while the gears started grinding in his head.

Annie, Jeff, Rachel, Abed... Did he invite Britta and Shirley? He tried to think about what they might be up to now. Shirley was probably with the boys... Britta might be working... He turned the stereo down.

"Were Britta and Shirley busy? I feel like they'd hate to be left out."

Annie thought to herself, "Hm. I think Shirley mentioned the other day that she was doing something with her sister this weekend. What days does Britta work?"

"I don't know. Weekends probably get her good tips, so I'd imagine she is tonight."

"True. You know, we should all go down there one night and have drinks. I don't think I've ever been to that bar."

Jeff replied in agreement, and they lapsed into an easy silence. There was the answer to his question, he guessed. Still though, Abed seemed weird about it. Jeff decided to think it was just a misconstruing of the text messages and put it out of his mind.

They arrived around 7:40, after a bit of traffic downtown. Abed and Rachel we're standing outside the theatre holding hands and chatting animatedly. Jeff parked easily, he and Annie making their way towards the entrance.

"You're late."

"Jeez, Abed. The movie doesn't start for twenty minutes!" Jeff answered, exasperated.

"We're only ten minutes late!" Annie chimed in.

"Yea, loosen up silly." Rachel finished, smiling brightly at Abed who let out a sarcastic laugh before smiling himself.

"He's just excited," said Rachel continuing, "Obviously, neither of us were able to see Pulp Fiction in theaters."

Jeff sighed and rolled his eyes, but only Annie noticed as Abed and Rachel had headed inside.

"What's wrong, King Kong?" Annie said, elbowing him. He shook his head and stepped up to the ticket booth.

"Two for Pulp Fiction, thanks."

"Jeeefff?" Annie sing-songed at him. He took the tickets and change from the vendor, sighing and nudging Annie through the door.

"Do you want popcorn or anything?" He said, dodging the question.

"No. I brought my own." She said, pulling a ziplock bag out of her bag. She smiled up at him sneakily and he laughed.

"Ooh, dangerous." He smirked and she hit him on the arm, following him to the theatre.

"You never answered me."

He grumbled, realizing that he wouldn't be getting out of it. He mumbled it anyway, "I saw Pulp Fiction in the theatre."

"What?"

"I saw Pulp Fiction in the theatre when it came out because I'm an old man. I'm the old man of the group now."

Annie laughed loudly but stifled when she realized he was serious.

"Oh Jeff! You're nuts. I mean yeah, I guess you're the oldest now but that does not make you the new Pierce." She scrunched up her nose and mouthed a silent 'Ew' making Jeff chuckle. "Besides, I thought you were okay with that now after your little 'incident' or whatever. You know we don't care."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah I know. Doesn't make me feel any younger though."

They spotted Abed and Rachel in a row farther back, smack dab in the middle, and joined them. Abed was silent, probably preparing for the movie. Rachel sat next to him, holding his hand and rubbing her thumb across it, looking as happy as ever. Annie and Jeff took their seats, earning a nod from Rachel and a thumbs up from Abed, who didn't turn his head.

They settled and Annie turned to Jeff, pointing a finger gun at him. "Hey, you're only as old as you feel, babe." She was trying to sound cool and it was adorable. She flashed him a brilliant smile and he laughed.

This earned a "Shh!" from Abed just as the lights dimmed. Annie and Jeff turned to each other and smiled.

Jeff was bored. He'd seen Pulp Fiction about 5 times and he wasn't like Abed, a guy who could watch a beloved movie over and over again. He slumped down in his seat, thinking that maybe he could doze off for a few without anyone noticing.

He felt Annie tense next to him, and looked over to see her covering her eyes, peeking out over her fingers and then shutting them again. The movie was pretty violent and Annie always seemed to prefer romantic comedies to action or horror.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Have you seen this before?"

She whispered back, "Yeah, but a while ago. I forgot how gross it was!"

He chuckled and thought for a moment, "Hey, I don't think Abed would mind if we bailed." He looked over at Abed, sure enough, he was entranced. "We could get a drink instead."

Annie nodded gratefully and they quietly shuffled out. Outside of the theater Annie took a deep breath and sighed.

"You know, I know Abed loves that movie but I don't understand how you could watch it so many times. Once is enough."

"I bet you've never seen Requiem For a Dream."

"No... What's that about?"

"It's a great movie. About heroin addiction and such, but it's pretty gruesome."

Annie scrunched up her face, "Pass."

He laughed and ushered her out the door into the parking lot, "So you wanna get that drink?"

They ventured down the street to an open bar and settled into a booth. Annie ordered her usual girly fair, and Jeff his usual scotch. They sat in content silence.

Annie spoke, "I do like that one part a lot though."

"Hmm?"

"The part where Uma Thurman and John Travolta are at the diner..."

"Oh, the dancing? Yeah, it's pretty great. Classic scene."

Annie laughed, "O-kay Abed." He rolled his eyes and she continued, "That part's great, but I meant when they're talking and she says 'That's when you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the hell up and comfortably share a silence.' Or something like that. It's always stuck with me."

Jeff nodded in agreement and thought to himself. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Abed's weirdness had been because he was scheming. Jeff thought Abed had stopped creating tv scenarios for the group, so maybe that's why he didn't realize it. This was a date. A double date, to be more specific, and he guessed that Annie was just as clueless as he was.

He wanted to say something, but there she was across from him. Sipping her fruity drink through a straw, smiling at him. He thought about that quote and about how easy it was to just sit with Annie, how it had always been that way... So he held his tongue. Maybe Abed was on to something, he might as well go all out.

There was a jukebox in the corner and he got up to pick a song, selecting Chuck Berry because screw subtlety. He returned to her smiling wide, with a hand outstretched.

"Wanna dance?"


End file.
